assessment to evaluate itseffectiveness. This endeavor is an effort to further enhance our existing RBE curriculum’sexcellence and adapt to the changing landscape of robotics engineering education while inspiringexisting and future RBE departments in their creation of a curriculum.IntroductionThe Robotics Engineering (RBE) program at Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) stands out asa leader of innovation and practical learning in the realm of engineering education. Renowned forits project-based and programming-intensive curriculum, the RBE program is meticulouslydesigned to not only impart theoretical knowledge but also to ensure hands-on, experientiallearning. Central to this curriculum are core courses such as Introduction to Robotics (RBE1001
Paper ID #39493Work in Progress: Development of an Integrated Place-Based LearningCommunity for First-Year Precalculus-Level Engineering StudentsProf. Eric Davishahl, Whatcom Community College Eric Davishahl serves as professor and engineering program coordinator at Whatcom Community College in northwest Washington state. His teaching and research interests include developing, implementing and assessing active learning instructional strategies and auto-graded online homework. Eric has been an active member of ASEE since 2001. He was the recipient of the 2008 Pacific Northwest Section Outstanding Teaching Award and currently
Paper ID #37596Work in Progress: Integrating Engineering Design Projects into EarlyCurricular Courses at a Hispanic-serving InstitutionDr. David Hicks, Texas A&M University-Kingsville David Hicks is an Associate Professor in the Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Department at Texas A&M University-Kingsville. Before joining TAMU-K he served as Associate Professor and Department Head at Aalborg University in Esbjerg, Denmark. He has also held positions in research labs in the U.S. as well as Europe, and spent time as a researcher in the software industry.Dr. Michael Preuss, Exquiri Consulting, LLC Michael
Paper ID #41782GIFTS: Transforming First-Year Engineering Curriculum with Diversity, Equity,Inclusion, and Entrepreneurial-Minded LearningDr. Lisa K. Murray, Western New England University Dr. Murray is an a Assistant Professor of Practice in the First Year Program at Western New England University. She holds a BS in biomedical engineering, masters in education and a masters and a PhD in engineering management. Her research interests are in engineering education, advanced manufacturing, design for additive manufacturing, sustainable manufacturing, medical manufacturing, quality and regulatory standards for medical devices
, and other practices well known to be in stark contrast with inclusivepedagogy and active learning. One of the largest drivers of attrition in engineering are so-called“gatekeeper” prerequisite courses that introduce math and science concepts in an out-of-context,high-stakes format.Through human-centered curricular interventions interwoven with co-curricular support we willtransform students' sense of belonging in college generally and in engineering more specifically.Our focus is on changing systems to promote student success rather than "fixing" or "weedingout" students. The traditional introduction to our engineering curriculum—and that of many ofour peer institutions—requires that students take prerequisite courses in mathematics and
participation in engineering byopening up more perspectives of what is engineering using diverse contexts.References[1] M. Knight and C. Cunningham, “Draw an Engineer Test (DAET): Development of a Tool to Investigate Students’ Ideas about Engineers and Engineering,” in Proceedings of the 2004 American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference and Exposition, 2004.[2] L. Berthoud, S. Lancastle, M. A. Gilbertson, and M. Gilbertson, “Designing a resilient curriculum for a joint engineering first year,” in Annual Conference Proceedings for the 2021 European Society for Engineering Education, 2022. [Online]. Available: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/361461385[3] J. R. Morelock, “A systematic
the United States. For instance, the PENG Instructional and Outreach Program (Pre-IOP) was developed to increase the number of skilled high-tech professionals, particularly among historically underrepresented groups (minorities and women). A thorough communication campaign promoting the benefits of careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) introduced a PENG curriculum in middle and high schools to achieve this goal [20]. The integrated Teaching and Learning (ITL) Program at the University of Colorado at Boulder created a PENG outreach program for K–12 instructors and students to inspire students about the benefits of PENG topics. Program effectiveness was evaluated based onparticipants' feedback, long-term
engineering. This way ofteaching has changed my opinion because I have learned that there is much more to engineeringthan just doing what you are told to do.”“It exposed me to a broader mentality.”“This experience has really opened up my view of how things are designed and the thought ofadvancements in this world.”“Learning about the interdisciplinary approach of integrating the entrepreneurial mindset,STEAM, and bio-inspired design showed me very interesting aspects of engineering that I neverreally thought of.”“Where once I would have seen just an ordinary object, I now find myself looking for where theinspiration could have come from.”“This newly developed curriculum has changed many things in my path in life.”“I started to think about things in a
comparisons in STEM education.Miriam Marie Sanders, Texas A&M University Miriam Sanders is a PhD student studying Curriculum and Instruction with an emphasis in Mathematics Education at Texas A&M University. Through her research she seeks to address issues of equity and diversity in STEM education with a focus in mathematicsAaron E. Kidd, Texas A&M University Aaron Kidd is a doctoral candidate at Texas A&M University and the Program Coordinator for an NSF grant-funded program in the Department of Integrative Biology at Oklahoma State University. His re- search interests revolve around teacher-specific behaviors that drive science instruction and the prepara- tion of new science teachers to integrate such
understanding aspects that help students develop a sense ofbelonging, first-year engineering educators can create experiences that promote a more seamlesstransition and contribute to an overall enhanced university experience.Defining Sense of BelongingWhile there is a general agreement on the importance of a sense of belonging, the specificdefinitions and dimensions can vary across disciplines and contexts [3]. Usually, the firstdefinition of belonging is ascribed to Abraham Maslow [2]. Used by many disciplines, it hasbecome key for educational psychologists as it is related to student success [4], students’perception of thriving or not in their environment [5, 6], and social capital [7]. Allen et al.’snarrative review proposes an integrated framework
engineering courses. ©American Society for Engineering Education, 2023Lessons Learned: Implementing Equitable Teaming Practices in first-year GE CoursesBackground and MotivationAspiring engineering students at Virginia Tech initially enroll in a General Engineering programduring their first year of the curriculum. In this program, students are expected to develop, alongwith other skills, professional teamwork strategies in an engineering setting through asemester-long team project. These types of team projects have been shown to influence students'sense of belonging as they begin their studies, something that can be a factor in retention andsuccess in an engineering program. Many instructors
the new curriculum on student understanding of social justice and students’ perceptionof the relevance of social justice to the profession. Student evaluations and written reflectionswere also examined to gauge how students perceived the integration of social justice into anintroductory engineering course. Survey results indicate that student awareness of the relevanceof social justice to the engineering profession increased over the course of the quarter. Inaddition, findings indicate an increase in understanding of social justice concepts along with anincrease in ability to identify social injustice. As seen through course evaluations and writtenreflections, student response to the course has been positive and most students are receptive
integral component of the first-year engineering course, with participation inthese sessions contributing to the students' final course grades.Expanding the Peer Mentoring Program to include transfer students necessitates greaterflexibility compared to students following the traditional FEP curriculum. Given that the transferclass operates as an asynchronous remote course, adjustments were made to the Transfer PeerMentoring Program to accommodate both remote and in-person meetings. Existing mentorsvolunteered to also serve the transfer student population and were matched with mentees basedon declared major and meeting preference (i.e., in-person vs. virtual). Instead of providingpredetermined topics, mentors adopted a more personalized approach
the habitat. Finally, the smaller groups integrated theircomponents and collaborated to maximize the energy efficiency and performance of the Solar-powered Habitat.The assessments of this project were designed for each level of teamwork: 1) Studentshighlighted their contributions through an Engineering Portfolio. 2) Smaller groups reflected ontheir design and building process by submitting weekly engineering logs and a semester-endposter. Finally, 3) Each group habitat (comprising 5~6 groups) presented its energy-efficienthabitat design in the first-year design expo at the end of the semester. The ongoing datacollection of this effort on project-based, multidisciplinary, multilevel teamwork proved how thisproject design effectively cultivated
explanations about how it canbe adapted to self-referent domains of an individual is discussed. The distinctions between theterms posed in this study are then used to identify which sub-constructs are most pertinent formeasuring self-concept in engineering education.Identifying the variables (sub-constructs) within self-concept has beneficial applications in first-year engineering education due to the noted levels of attrition in the first two years of anengineering curriculum [6]. Building a scale and consequent interventions to influence those sub-constructs will help improve student retention due to the direct relation of self-concept withacademic achievement; less importantly in terms of high grades but more so as an activecontributor to human
their counterparts [36]. Efforts haveincluded updating the first year curriculum to incorporate social justice [37], integratinginclusive practices into the departmental makerspace [38] [15], creating a summer bridgeprogram for engineering students [39], conducting research on impacts of curricular and co-curricular changes on belonging and identity [40] [41] [42], and an National Science Foundation(NSF)-funded project which seeks to increase student sense of belonging in undergraduateengineering students through the integration of social engagement activities into an academicmakerspace.The focus of this paper is related to an NSF-funded makerspace engagement and belongingproject. There are two main components of the project: 1. Development and
tacklethe “messiness” of open-ended design problems.[1] Particularly in large first-year courses,implementing and assessing these open-ended design problems is difficult due to resource(space, staffing, time, financial, etc.) constraints. Finding an appropriate balance betweenconcrete and open-ended design projects is critical to maximizing students’ learning.ENGGEN 115: Principles of Engineering Design is a required first-year course in the Faculty ofEngineering at the University of Auckland. The course was re-designed in 2022 to emphasizedesign process over technical engineering, promote creative problem solving, and to test aconcrete/open-ended balance that might work for the combination of curriculum, student cohort,and faculty arrangement in
Paper ID #41539Neurodivergent and Neurotypical Students in a First-Year Engineering DesignCourse: Identity, Self-Efficacy, and ExperiencesDr. Angela R. Bielefeldt, University of Colorado Boulder Angela Bielefeldt is a professor at the University of Colorado Boulder in the Department of Civil, Environmental, and Architectural Engineering (CEAE) and the Director for the Integrated Design Engineering (IDE) program. The IDE program houses both an undergraduate IDE degree accredited under the ABET EAC General criteria and a new PhD degree in Engineering Education. Dr. Bielefeldt conducts research on engineering ethics
to increasethe participation of students from diverse backgrounds in engineering majors. Additionally, theAccreditation Board of Engineering and Technology recently made a commitment to diversityand is considering changes to curriculum criteria which would require engineering programs todemonstrate a culture of diversity, equity, and inclusion [1]. In alignment with USAFA’sstrategic plan and the anticipated accreditation criteria, the authors are developing a newfoundational engineering course as one element of an institution-wide effort to improve students’sense of belonging, make engineering majors more accessible to a wider audience, andultimately increase diversity among engineering graduates.In addition to exploring best practices from
Paper ID #39200Work in Progress: Efficacy of a Peer Mentoring Program forUnderrepresented First-Year Students at a Predominantly White InstitutionDr. Kelyn Rola, Southern Methodist University Dr. Kelyn Rola is a Research Professor in the Caruth Institute for Engineering Education in the Lyle School of Engineering at Southern Methodist University. She is Director of the Thrive Scholars Program in the Lyle School, which supports historically underrepresented students in engineering and computer science during their transition to college. She received her Doctorate in Education Policy and Leadership at SMU with an emphasis
an engineering identity early in theirmatriculation can be significant drivers of attrition from technical fields. Previous researchsuggests that project-based learning builds students’ engineering/computing identity by piquingand developing student interest in engineering topics. Literature on the sense of belonging inengineering suggests that experiencing camaraderie within course-based teams, and particularlyhaving a clear purpose or role within the team, can promote that sense of belonging. The currentresearch project sought to implement evidence-based practices to enhance first-year students’identity and sense of belonging in engineering and computing, in the context of a two-semesterintroductory course sequence that integrates students
emphasis on Higher Education. Dr. Rola’s professional efforts focus on promoting equity, inclusion, and student success in higher education. Her research projects center on supporting traditionally underrepresented students in engineering, social justice education in predominantly White contexts, student well-being and thriving, gender inequities in STEM fields, and navigating the hidden curriculum as a first-generation student.Dr. Caitlin M. Anderson, Southern Methodist University Dr. Caitlin Anderson is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Applied Physiology and Sport Management at Southern Methodist University. She is the Director of the Hilltop Scholars Program at SMU, an honors community for first-year college
supportiveacademic environment in the first year, suggesting that targeted feedback and increased tutorcontact could significantly enhance the student transition experience [27].These examples underscore the importance of the constructs to student engagement and success.Together, these constructs offer a comprehensive view of the multifaceted nature of studentengagement, encompassing related elements critical for student engagement and success inengineering education.Site and ParticipantsThis study was conducted within the context of the Engineering+ program at Oregon StateUniversity, an innovative first-year engineering curriculum designed to engage students in hands-on projects, major exploration, and skill development. The Engineering+ program aims
differencesin student’s comfort with the overall concept of modeling in three dimensions and their ability touse specific SolidWorks tools and/or features.ConclusionsThis paper outlined a study focused on student comfort related to additive manufacturing andthree-dimensional modeling through the fall semester of a first-year engineering course at amedium-sized midwestern university. The first-year engineering course, which focused on theengineering design process, integrated a brand-new makerspace into the curriculum through botha multiple iteration group project and an individual project. Students stated their comfort levelwith the aforementioned topics through three surveys. The first survey was at the start of theacademic year, the second survey was
backgrounds to successfully transfer to and persist in theengineering program at UCI. The designed program targets the population of students who havethe ambition to pursue engineering degrees, but often lack the resources or exposure toengineering opportunities. The program was developed to help combat low persistence rates andlong times to completion within the transfer student population. The goal of the project is toincrease the number of community college students who successfully transfer to an engineeringmajor at a 4-year institution and to improve the transfer student experience in engineering byproviding co-curriculum cohort activities to prepare for STEM careers or graduate studies. Co-curricular activities include a mentoring program as
as an increasedawareness of the complexity of racialized sociotechnical problems, stronger emotional responses,more refined ideas about potential solutions, and realizing the systemic nature of racism.Findings suggest that the students met learning goals regarding an awareness of sociotechnicalproblems and catalyzed (early) critical thinking on how to address them through engineering.Implications from this work demonstrate that first-year students are capable of wrestling withdifficult topics such as racism in technology, while still meeting ABET requirements within thecourse for data science and coding.IntroductionAt a small private engineering institution in the northeast region of the United States, year one ofa research-based reimagining
Paper ID #37636Experienced Teaching Assistants’ Perceptions of a Simulated Environmentfor Facilitating Discussions with Individual Student Avatars from aDesign Team in ConflictDr. Haritha Malladi, University of Delaware Haritha Malladi is an Assistant Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering and the Director of First-Year Engineering at the University of Delaware. She received her Bachelor of Technology in Civil Engineering from National Institute of Technology, Warangal, India, and her MS and PhD in Civil Engi- neering from North Carolina State University. She is a teacher-scholar working at the intersection of un
students' motivation topursue a career in microelectronics differ after this limited curriculum intervention?Literature ReviewThe Role of Interest in Career DevelopmentSocial Cognitive Career Theory (SCCT) [9] is an overarching conceptual framework that guidesall of the decisions of the Scalable Asymmetric Lifecycle Engagement (SCALE) project. SCCTemphasizes the role of relevant interests in career development. Within SCCT's Choice Modeland Interest Model, interest directly links self-efficacy, outcome expectations, and career-relatedchoices [9]. Because of this, many studies seeking to affect student's interest in engineeringcareers focus on increasing student self-efficacy and outcome expectations. In SCCT, interestsdirectly relate to choice
identity as an HSI (Hispanic Serving Institution) and the vital role HSIs play in improving access to education and advancing equity for historically underserved students. He is the PI of the project ”Information Systems meet Cultural Competencies (IS-CUCO),” an NSF-funded project aiming to integrate cultural, linguistic, data, and infrastructure factors into Information Systems that provide access to food-security services such as food pantries. He is also a Co-PI of a DoE Title V grant titled ”City Tech STEM Success Collaborative,” which seeks to improve retention, graduation, and workforce readiness of Hispanic and low-income STEM-interested students by strengthening and coordinating academic and support programs for
from large metropolitan areas but draws its student population both statewide andregionally and operates on the quarter calendar. Louisiana Tech University merged the math,chemistry, and physics programs with the engineering, technology, and computer scienceprograms into a single college in 1995 and created an integrated freshman engineeringcurriculum in 1998. Louisiana Tech University has a long history of educational innovations inengineering education, with a hands-on project-based approach implemented in 2004 and fourother NSF-funded programs to increase student success in engineering since 2007.The SSP builds on these prior efforts by providing financial, academic, personal, andprofessional support to engineering students starting in